After adding AlgaeFix by API, my water is white and cloudy?

H

hybridd23

AC Members
Oct 18, 2007
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Framingham, MA
My water was a little bit yellow/green, so I went and bought some AlgaeFix (First time using it). After a small water change, I added it to my water. The yellow/green is gone now, but it is really cloudy and white. I used the correct dosage from instructions on the bottle.

Does anyone have experience using this product? Or has this also happened to anyone else?
 
Somehow it disturbed your bacteria colony, most likely.

Main active ingredient according to their MSDS is dimethyliminoethylene dichloride, exocylate. Also says in the report itself that it is "harmful to aquatic organisms" and is an "ecotoxin"...yikes!

Been reading around various forums and see some mentions of it being a microbicide. A possible red flag there...\

I would advise to stop using the product entirely.
 
all 'buy this bottle of this stuff and fix your tank problem instantly!' to me is a bunch of hooey, and a waste of money.

stop using the stuff. get out your bucket and gravel vac. do daily water changes of at least 50%. that is what will clear your tank of any green/yellow water.

only thing that's been put in my tanks for over 2 years is dechlorinator (Prime).
 
You killed off the algae that was eating the ammonia in your tank, thereby causing a bacterial bloom which is why its white and foggy.
 
jpappy789 said:
Somehow it disturbed your bacteria colony, most likely.

Main active ingredient according to their MSDS is dimethyliminoethylene dichloride, exocylate. Also says in the report itself that it is "harmful to aquatic organisms" and is an "ecotoxin"...yikes!

Been reading around various forums and see some mentions of it being a microbicide. A possible red flag there...\

I would advise to stop using the product entirely.
Click to expand...

Not sure what frame of mind I was in when I posted this but AFAIK acterial "blooms" are generally caused by heterotrophic not nitrifying bacteria...although a bacteria colony crash may precede the "bloom" as the heterotrophic bacteria need an organic food source.

It may simply be that all the dead algae matter provided an ample food source for the bacteria to multiply. That being said, I would definitely be monitoring your params for a few reasons: 1) the possibility of the Algae fix being some sort of anti-microbial agent, 2) the heterotrophic bacteria may be out competing the nitrifying bacteria for O2 thus reducing their efficiency and 3) the breakdown of organic material by heterotrophic bacteria leads to ammonia

Sorry about that...
 
Without getting into technical reasons for why the tank has gone cloudy....

What you had before was a stable system, things were in balance, but you had a bit more algae than was desirable.

So you dumped in a heap of chemical death, that did what was promised, it killed the algae. Now you have a tank full of dead algae, and things are not "in balance" any more.

Eventually things will settle down, hopefully with no dead fish, and the algae will naturally grow back exactly the same.

This is the big problem with algae killing chemicals, they don't change the conditions that are causing the algae. To fix the problem long term you need to change something about the tank. Light levels, nutrient levels, algae eating critters etc

Ian
 
Thanks for all the insight!

Yeah, I don't think I will use the AlgaeFix anymore. As I poured in the AlgaeFix, I could see it slowly swirling through the water turning the water white and cloudy. I think you guys are right as it probably killed off all the algae, but made the tank unbalanced.

I haven't lost any fish yet (crossing my fingers) and I'll definitely be doing water changes to try and get the AlgaeFix chemicals out.
 
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